Everything In Transit
by berrywarbler
Summary: Sequel to 'Breakaway'. Now that they've finally made it to LA; how exactly are they going to manage dating and figuring out an entirely new life plan-especially when an old flame comes into play.
1. Not Like The Movies

In the four months since Rachel had left New York, she could already see the vast differences in who she had been. But Los Angeles was a lot different than New York, her relationship with Blaine was vastly different than anything she'd ever been in before, and she was, for the first time in her entire life, without a set and stable plan.

Life wasn't as easy as movies and TV made it look. It was much harder in the real world to do everything she had to in order to get by. When the two had first arrived in Los Angeles, their goal was jobs. Neither had been employed before, and the circumstances looked bleak, but eventually Blaine was fortunate enough to find a small, classy restaurant where he played piano, earning a relatively good paycheck and tips. Rachel, on the other hand, had only managed to find a waitressing job, and even that was only because the manager could tell she was desperate when she showed up to the interview-her fifth for the week.

Her dads had, unfortunately, blown up at her when she first called to let them know what was going on. They refused to help her, saying that if she was "old enough to quit a college she had already gotten into and drive 3,000 miles across the country without discussing it" that she was plenty old enough to take care of herself. After a few weeks of cold shoulders, however, they drove her car out to California to visit her (still unaware of the entirety of her relationship with Blaine, for Rachel had never corrected them on the stance that he was indeed gay) and said once she got herself back on her feet, with a plan and her goal in front of her once more, and she was back in school, they would of course help her.

Which is how, come February, she was stuck working at a family restaurant and attending a community college to at least take care of her general requirements. She had tried to apply to UCLA, but since she was so late in the game they told her to wait until the fall semester to apply for a transfer. It was a blow, but one she had been expecting, so it wasn't as difficult as expected to enroll herself in the two year school the academic advisor had suggested for her. Blaine was taking classes as well, though he wasn't as certain what he wanted to do so as Rachel ever had been. As for what his parents said when he told them about their move, Rachel was still unsure. He didn't tell, and she didn't want to push the issue.

As for Blaine himself, they quickly surmised that living together and beginning a new relationship was increasingly detrimental. The first few weeks were spent either fighting or fucking, and it took awhile to get into a groove for the two of them. When they were apartment hunting, staying in a small studio flat, there was no room for separation. Eventually they managed to find a decently affordable two bedroom furnished apartment, and the space that it allowed them evened them out a bit.

Their first real date was New Years Eve, which should have been cheesy but Rachel didn't mind. There was no snow and it felt weird celebrating the New Year three hours later than everyone else, but she suspected over time she'd grow used to these things. And having Blaine kiss her at midnight was really all she needed.

November and December were the frantic months, trying to figure out how exactly they were going to get away with this crazy idea. But by the time January arrived, they were more stable-they had a good apartment and jobs, were planning on starting at least a community college, and Rachel felt more like she was in stable ground again, like she could breathe and they could focus on what they had been neglecting-their relationship. While they still spent most of their time trying to adjust to their new life, they were finally at the point of settling into Los Angeles. They worked late hours at their respective jobs, working even later as school work started piling up. Most of the time, they really only saw each other in the mornings or really late at night when one would sneak into the others room like they were going to be caught. The month wore on, and while the winter was nowhere what either were used to from Ohio, it was still visibly winter and often times Rachel wondered if she had made the right decision, leaving New York with Blaine. But then, he'd smile or laugh or realize exactly where her mind was starting to wander too, and he'd pull her in close and whisper that she was brave for doing this, and how glad he was that they had found each other and finally gotten together.

* * *

><p>"You made me breakfast," Blaine smiled one Saturday morning as he sat down at the small table, Rachel sliding a plate full of French toast in front of him as she helped herself to a bowl of fruit, too tired to be really hungry yet.<p>

"Well, I couldn't sleep," she offered as he dug in to his food. "I was up tossing and turning most of the night."

"Why didn't you come and get me?" he asked, sounding a little wounded between bites.

She shrugged, leaning over and wiping a bit of syrup off his chin with a napkin before answering him. "I didn't want to disturb you, you're barely getting anymore sleep than I am," she told him.

"Still, you could have come in anyways," he responded. She shrugged once more, playing with her food more than she was actually eating it. "Do you have work today?" he asked after a few minutes once he had finished eating.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I have the midday, so it's not too bad. Just until six-ish."

"We should go on a date then," he grinned, the excitement spreading across his face. For someone who proclaimed they weren't good at romance, Blaine was doing his best to woo her, which was completely unnecessary since she was rapidly falling in love with him. Not that she voiced that, aware that it was all too soon-something the past Rachel Berry would have never even considered.

"Okay," she responded, the butterflies she often felt when their relationship was mentioned, casually or otherwise, starting to flutter about again. She still got nervous when he kissed her or looked at her with a glance that wanted to take her breathe away. There were the times she wanted to chase him around with an axe, but those times were few and far between and were understandable. Living together at the beginning of a relationship was probably the stupidest thing she had ever decided to do, but they didn't have much of a choice for the time being.

"Good," he agreed, standing up and bringing his plate to the sink before kissing her forehead and grinning at her. "I have to work until 7, but I'll swing back home and pick you up straight afterwards. Be ready Rachel Berry, because tonight? I'm going to rock your world," he winked as she let out a loud laugh, the words ringing familiar as their first kiss played through her mind while he left the room, presumably to get ready for his own job that day.

* * *

><p>By 7:30, Rachel was dressed up in her prettiest dress that she had brought with her, her hair innocently curled around her face. She enjoyed dressing up like this, going somewhere fancy that they shouldn't have even thought about going but did anyways. Blaine liked to treat her to nice places, saying he wanted to show her off, show the world how lucky he was that she chose to be on <em>his <em>arm.

"Let me just change!" he yelled as he ran into the apartment, not pausing the bathroom where she was finishing the final touches on her makeup. She grinned, her stomach full of nerves and excitement as she gave herself a final glance over before heading towards the kitchen to wait for him. She was glad that even though they had been dating for a month or so, and having sex for even longer, that he still liked to do things like take her on dates. She had heard so many horror stories-from Quinn, Santana, and worst of all even Sally-where the guys lost complete interest in dating or being romantic once they got the girl into bed. But Blaine seemed to be the opposite, which suited Rachel perfectly.

He appeared a moment later, and she grinned as she pulled him close so she could kiss him. "You look great," she whispered, and he chuckled.

"You took the words straight out of my mouth," he responded, lightly kissing her once more. "Ready to go?" She nodded and grabbed her clutch, Blaine directing her with his hand on her back as they walked down the stairs to the car.

He wouldn't tell her where they were going, and she sat anxiously in the car, music playing softly as she tried to guess.

"We're not going bowling, are we?" she asked wearily, looking down at the heels she chose to wear. He laughed, shaking his head and turning right.

"No, we're not going bowling. Though I don't see why you refuse to go, I'm sure you're perfectly acceptable at it."

"Not even a little bit," she muttered, glancing out the window. They were in a new part of town, not that this was surprising-most of the area was new to her, aside from the four blocks around their apartment and her work.

"I promise, you're going to love this place. One of my managers was telling me all about it, and it seemed perfect." She smiled, feeling almost like flailing at the simple fact that Blaine was reminded of her at work. She shouldn't have expected any less, she was, after all, his girlfriend; but it never seemed to stop her excited reactions.

They pulled up to a quiet looking venue, Blaine opening the door for her and ushering her inside. It was quaint but beautiful all at once-not something that necessarily took your breath away the first time you looked at it, but a beauty nonetheless. The restaurant was small, a string quartet and piano playing softly from a corner somewhere as they were sat at a table nearby.

"It's an all vegan menu too," Blaine grinned as she picked up her menu, "and since I know how hard it is for us to find places we both can enjoy, I thought we could give this one a run through."

She glanced up at him, her heart swelling with adoration. "It's wonderful," she answered as their waiter came over to the table.

"Hi, I'm Jesse and I'll be your waiter for the evening, can I get you anything to drink, perhaps an appetizer to start off with?" Rachel glanced up at the end of his speech, tearing her eyes away from Blaine as the all too familiar voice registered in her brain. Sure enough, when she glanced up she couldn't begin to hide the shock that colored her face and her voice.

"Jesse?" she asked, her jaw practically dropped.

He glanced at her, clearly not having done so before, his own face registering shock as he questioned her with only her name, a quick "Rachel?" falling out as the pair stared at each other, Rachel unsure of who was more surprised.


	2. Hey Jealousy

Blaine was immediately tense. He had heard about Jesse, the ex-love-of-Rachel's-life when he made a brief appearance a couple years prior, but hadn't thought the former lead of Vocal Adrenaline had come back to Los Angeles .

"What are you doing here?" the two spoke at the same time, a shy smile appearing on Rachel's face a moment later. Blaine didn't know what to do, he couldn't exactly point out that Rachel was on a _date _with _him_, her boyfriend, without making the scene awkward for everyone, no matter how awkward it was for him. Plus, they hadn't given him a reason to worry exactly, aside from their stares that were leaving prolonged and bordering on obsessive.

"I came back last summer," Jesse said after a moment, turning slightly to block out Blaine as if he didn't even exist. "But you-you were always headed for New York, I was positive it was only a matter of time before your name was splashing all over Broadway. I was looking forward to bragging about how I used to date the newest sensation."

Rachel blushed, and Blaine was now officially annoyed. While his statement was true, the blatant flattery seemed to border on flirtation and Blaine was still sitting right there, being ignored. "Blaine and I-" she pointed to Blaine who was momentarily relieved that she at least knew he was still there, though Jesse barely glanced at him, "we moved out here a few months ago. New York just wasn't for us," she shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure you've got big plans now that you're in Los Angeles," Jesse grinned.

"Sort of, I'm just trying to figure everything out still as of now," Rachel replied, returning his smile.

Someone called Jesse's name from across the restaurant, clearly signaling for him. "Well, listen, you and I should catch up sometime. When I'm not working," Jesse tacked on, and Rachel nodded enthusiastically. "I'll get someone else to serve you guys, just hold on a second," he added, writing down his phone number for Rachel and waving as he wandered off.

"Well that was a flashback," Rachel stated, going back to her menu after adding his number to her phone. Blaine snorted silently but didn't say anything, trying to not lash out at her. It was quiet for a moment while they looked over their menus, Blaine so intently focused on his, trying to calm himself down, that he didn't realize she was staring at him.

"What?" he asked, his voice sharper than he would have liked. A new waitress came over though, interrupting what was sure to be an interesting discussion and sliding glasses of water onto the table in front of them.

"Sorry for the wait, our manager doesn't approve of us serving people we know. And apparently, Jesse's ex-girlfriend is here, so hi! I'm your new server, Margaret." Blaine smiled at the girl, aware it was coming off as flirtatious, but if Rachel could flirt with a waiter then he could too.

"Well, I guess we lucked out and got the cuter server now," he winked, aware in the back of his mind that he was fighting fire with fire.

"Are you guys all set or do you need a couple more minutes?" she asked them, blushing wildly underneath her dark hair.

"I think we're set," Blaine answered with a smirk, placing his menu on the edge of the table.

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, her tone confused and a little hurt at Blaine's behavior. He felt a little bad as he listened to her order, but noticed Jesse a few tables over now staring at Rachel as he took someone elses order and the fire of jealousy washed over him again. The girl scurried off after they placed their order, and Blaine leaned back against the booth, taking a look around the restaurant, trying to seem nonchalant and push his ridiculous feelings away.

"This is a nice place," Blaine decided out loud as his eyes came to rest on Rachel once more, trying not to grimace at the glare she was focusing on him.

"What was that?" she demanded, signaling to their waitress across the room.

"What was what?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"You were hitting on our waitress."

"I did not," Blaine defended, because he hadn't-not really. "Is a smile illegal these days?"

"It wasn't just your _smile _and you know it," she hissed, her eyes narrowing and her lips barely moving. He could tell she was pissed, but he hadn't done anything worse than she had.

"Sorry, maybe I should just flirt with an exboyfriend in front of you instead," he stated calmly, aware that these words were fighting words more than anything else and yet unable to stop them from tumbling out of his mouth.

"I wasn't-we weren't flirting," she deflected. "And if you didn't like Jesse then why didn't you speak up when he was around?"

"And say what, exactly?" Blaine asked, leaning forward across the table now. Their voices were low, but he could tell Rachel was verging on extremely pissed off, just as he was. "Hi, I'm Blaine, Rachel's current boyfriend. Please back the fuck off and stop trying to ask her out?"

"He wasn't flirting!" She shrieked, a little louder than she had probably intended, a couple from a table over turning to watch their argument.

"He practically asked you out on a date while I was sitting right here," Blaine countered.

"He wants to catch up with me, as friends, he didn't ask me out on a date. He just wants to-talk. As _friends_," she emphasized.

"That might be how he worded it, but I can guarantee you that's not how he's thinking about it," Blaine retorted, nodding over to where Jesse was now standing by the bar, watching the two.

"And you know what he's thinking," Rachel shot back. Blaine shrugged, sure that he was right. She was getting angrier and angrier from her spot across from him, which he didn't think was too fair since _she _had been the one flirting with someone else in the first place as it was. "Well you know what, maybe you can tell what I'm thinking," she seethed, getting out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" he asked in shock as she started to walk away from him.

"Anywhere that's not around you and your bigheaded, unneeded jealousy," she snarled. He sat in stunned silence as she walked out of the restaurant. He was vaguely aware that she was catching more than a few stares as she stormed out of the room and out the front doors, presumably to catch a cab back to their apartment. He, on the other hand, was speechless as he tried to figure out how his momentary jealousy had gotten so out of hand so quickly.

* * *

><p>Sure enough she beat him home, not even bothering to click the <em>Friends <em>episode she had been watching on the television off before storming into her room and slamming the door loudly, ignoring him as he tried to call after her. He knocked on her door; tried apologizing through it, asking her to come out, but after a few minutes he noticed the light flicker off and, even though it was only about 9 in the evening, heard the familiar sounds of her crawling into bed, adamant in her efforts to ignore him.

Sighing, he gave up for the time being and headed for his own room, knowing there was no hope for the near future while she was still livid. He figured he would just corner her tomorrow and try to have a rational conversation about why, exactly, he didn't like this Jesse guy and why he didn't really want her hanging around him. It was more than basic jealousy, the more he thought about it. He had heard from Kurt how this guy had strung her along their sophomore year so that he could bring her real mom into her life only for the woman to disappear again and have Jesse break her heart weeks before Regional's. Actually saw from a distance how he tried to win her over with apologies and flattery when she was clearly in the process of trying to win Finn back for herself, though there was a brief time when she seemed like she was getting back together with Jesse.

His stomach churned as he realized the full extent of what could possibly happen. He trusted Rachel, he really did-but she had a tendency and quite a past of making rash decisions when she was upset, decisions that ultimately hurt her-not to mention whoever she was dating at the time-more in the long run. She had been better about those, but he was uncomfortably aware that he might have done the one thing he didn't want to and sent her straight into this St. James's arms.

The next morning he woke quickly, hoping to find her and thinking-wishing, really- that she'd be in the kitchen again. Instead he found a note on the table, _went to work then having dinner with Jesse. __As friends__. I'll talk to you when I get home_, signed with her signature gold star. He sat there for a moment, reading it over a few times before the realization that she had planned a date off with her _exboyfriend _ for that evening really sunk in, making him feel even worse.

"What the fuck have I done," he groaned, rubbing his face with his hand.


	3. Makes Me Wonder

Rachel didn't talk to Blaine for three days. She was annoyed with his unreasonable jealousy; she had thought they were above something as trivial as that. They weren't in high school anymore, and she reminded him of that quite loudly before storming into her room Sunday night after he asked her where she had been all evening.

And really, there was no reason for him to be jealous anyways. Jesse and her were friends and nothing more-she was shocked at first to see him, sure, but none of her old feelings for him returned. She was relieved when she discovered she wasn't longing for him, she had absolutely no interest at all in him. They were friends, nothing more and nothing less, and it was a good thing. Jesse was going through what Rachel was about to put herself through-going to school, auditioning for roles, trying to make it in Los Angeles. It was a scary thought, and Blaine didn't understand the full spectrum of emotions it put her through. Blaine didn't want to be famous, he was content to live a quiet life. Rachel needed the fame and attention and stardom, to be appreciated for her talent. And that was something that Jesse understood far better than Blaine.

When she had asked Jesse out to coffee, it was out of spite towards Blaine for acting childish. But they had since been out every night, getting dinner and discussing exactly what their goals and dreams were. They knew the general gist of them, but when they were dating they were usually bickering or making out-there wasn't too much talk of anything else. Now, however, they were free from any sort of sexual tension and it was nice to have a friend around again.

Tuesday night, Blaine was laying on her bed when she came home. "What are you doing?" she asked, moving around him and dropping her bag on her desk.

"Well, you've been avoiding me, which I would think would be hard to do since we're dating and live in the same apartment, but you've somehow managed it-"

"I always was an overachiever," she smirked.

"-and I missed you," he continued, ignoring her comment. His face looked so sincere that she couldn't help it when her heart melted, and she jumped onto his lap, kissing his cheek and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I missed you too," she murmured, cuddling as close as she could as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry for acting like an idiot," he told her, kissing her forehead.

"You should be," she replied, but grinned up at him. "I'm sorry for ignoring you these past couple days."

"Well, I'm sure we can figure out some way to make it up to each other," he smirked back at her, his lips gently kissing her ear, eliciting a small giggle from her.

"I'm sure we can," she repeated before falling down on the bed and pulling him on top of her.

* * *

><p>"You look exhausted," Jesse commented the next day when Rachel met up with him-they now had an almost ritual going for them, meeting at the same coffee place after work and before she went home to Blaine and piles of homework.<p>

"It was a late night last night," she answered, a small smile playing at her lips as the memory distracted her from their conversation momentarily.

Jesse snorted but didn't say anything, instead changing the subject. "Did you look into that class I told you about at all?"

"No," she shrugged, remembering their conversation from the previous afternoon. Jesse was starting to take an acting class from a professional, and while she was sure it would be great for her, she was already stretched to the limit between working and Blaine and even a community college. "I'm sure it's fantastic, but I don't think it's the right time for me to think about that right now."

"Why?" Jesse asked, his voice colored with shock.

"Well, I'm just so busy, and once I can quit my job and focus on school and everything I'll have more time-I barely have time to see Blaine as it is right now, and we live together-"

"And yet here you are with me," Jesse pointed out. It was an uncomfortable fact that she'd rather have ignored.

"I just-he's working right now."

"But you could be using this time to do homework or work yourself so you could spend more time with him tonight," Jesse argued. "It seems to me that maybe you're subconsciously avoiding your own boyfriend."

"I am not avoiding Blaine," she rolled her eyes before adding "anymore" at the end of her statement. "We're just both very busy and it makes it a little difficult to see each other. Besides, neither of us are exactly the _I need to see you every second of the day _kind of people," she lied, aware almost immediately how contradicting the truth was. Kurt and Blaine had been inseparable for so long before their issues started tearing them apart, and she rarely wanted to be without Finn or Jesse, so why _was _she spending her free time with Jesse instead of her boyfriend.

"It just doesn't seem like the Rachel Berry I used to know so well," Jesse shrugged nonchalantly. She nodded, distracted as she started overanalyzing what he was saying, wondering if maybe Blaine and her weren't as wonderfully happy together as they thought they were. "Besides, I'm sure he'd want you to help yourself to get to your future. Unless he's selfish and would rather have you fail."

"He wants me to succeed," she whispered quietly, but she couldn't deny that she wasn't sure how Blaine would react to news that she'd have even less time with him and that it was a determining factor in why she wouldn't take the class.

"Then I don't see why you don't go for it, the teacher is world class-some of the burgeoning new talent has been taught by him, and I for one can't wait to get started on what is sure to be a long career," Jesse prattled on, but Rachel wasn't really listening anymore, her mind now confused as she tried to clear it. It was just a few simple questions that Jesse had asked, and yet here she was beginning to question the only stable thing she had really had in the past few months.

* * *

><p>"But, Blaine, think about it," she pointed out while stirring pasta in a boiling pot on the stove a couple nights later when they actually had more than 10 minutes where they were both awake and together. "Finn and I, we were almost glued at the hip. We were around each other constantly. And you and Kurt-I mean, granted towards the end you started becoming distant, but you were together all the time before that. And we <em>live <em>together for goodness sakes! Why is it that we never seem to be around each other?' She had accosted him as soon as he walked in the door, and he took a deep breath from the chair at their kitchen table, looking exhausted. She felt bad for questioning him, but she knew honestly and openness and communication were important, and she had spent the past few nights tossing and turning and thinking about nothing else. It was getting to the point where Blaine couldn't even comfort her, and she had slept in her own bed the night before so he could get some rest without her limbs flailing everywhere.

"Rachel, babe, we're busy. We're busy trying to start a completely new life. In high school it was easier to be around our boyfriends all the time, because we didn't have responsibilities like we do now." He walked over to her, placing his hands on her hips and looking her in the eyes. "It doesn't mean we care for each other any less than if we spent 24/7 with each other. It means we're growing up and becoming more independent. We're _growing_," he assured her when she opened her mouth to argue once more. "Rachel, relax. I promise that we're okay." He brushed a piece of hair out of her face and kissed her forehead before declaring that he was going to change quickly before dinner, and she sighed, turning back to the food she was preparing.

She wanted to believe him, she felt like she should. But still-there was that nagging voice now, the one she hadn't had to deal with in so long. It was her turn to feel childish, for letting something so stupid come between them. He was right, she knew it deep down, they weren't in high school anymore and things were very different. She was just going to have to try harder to remember that Blaine cared for her, and that she was crazy about him, and that they were great together. She was just going to have to ignore all the insecurities Jesse had unknowingly raised in her.


	4. Gone Away From Me

It didn't take Blaine long to figure out what was going on. Rachel was becoming more and more stressed, more and more reserved around Blaine. He wasn't sure exactly what this Jesse guy had over her, or how he had such a powerful effect on her, but Blaine didn't like it. Jesse knew Rachel wouldn't outright cheat on Blaine-for which Blaine was grateful-but he was going to make Rachel question every single thing about their relationship, about Blaine, until it became so confusing that Rachel ran to Jesse instead of Blaine, leaving him even though nothing had changed between the two of them.

He let it go for a couple of weeks, reassuring her that he loved her and that everything was fine, hoping that once they hit their spring break for school and she had a little more time to relax she would see what was happening. Instead she became more and more stressed, prone to outbursts and it took all of Blaine's self-restraint not to yell back. Yelling back was what Jesse wanted, it was giving in and letting whatever lies Jesse was filling Rachel's head with become true.

"Are you coming home after work?" Blaine asked one day while they were getting ready for their days, trying to keep the disgust that she was probably going to choose Jesse over him once more out of his voice.

"I made plans with Jesse," she told him, fiddling with a water bottle in her hand. Blaine just sighed heavily, fighting the urge to roll his eyes and just barely containing the _of course _that threated to leak out. "Well, I mean, we didn't have anything specific planned," she pointed out, and something in him snapped.

"No, but I am still your _boyfriend_ and I'd like to see you every once in awhile," he snapped.

"You see me all the time," she replied, her voice wary.

"No, actually, I don't. I see you for a little while in the mornings, see you occasionally at night when you come in after work, but whenever you have time off you're out with Jesse, telling him about how our relationship isn't working. You know why it's not working Rach? Because instead of talking to me, or spending time with me, you're off with an exboyfriend who's trying to win you back by destroying me, by feeding you lies and pointing out miniscule flaws," he ranted, the anger and disappointment and _fear _that he had been feeling for the past few weeks bubbling over the edge.

"That's not true!" she cried out, but he just scoffed.

"Really? What does Jesse tell you? Wait, let me guess. That because I've always said I was gay before you, I'm going to leave you for another guy. Or wait, maybe that it'll never work out because we're living in such small quarters and trying to start up a relationship and that _never _ends well. Or maybe he's just telling you that I'll hold you back, even though I've been one of your biggest fans since I met you, part of the reason I convinced you to move to Los Angeles in the first place was so that you could have a step up on getting to where you want to be." She sat in silence for a minute, the lack of instant rebuttal all the confirmation he needed that these were exactly the things Jesse had been telling her. "You know, deep down, that I care about you Rachel. That I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. Yet you keep spending time with Jesse and you have to be seeing how this is killing our chance, our real chance at having something real. Why are you doing this to us?" His voice was soft as he walked towards her, taking her hands in his own and looking into her eyes with sincerity.

"You're wrong," she finally spoke, looking down at the floor. Blaine felt like his insides were about to burst, a loud thundering in his ears as she continued to speak, words that were cutting into him sharper than any knife ever could. "Because there will be a time when a guy will come and take you away from me, and living together and trying to date was the stupidest thing we've ever decided. Second stupidest, actually, because you talked me into leaving New York, where I had finally found a home where I was welcome and loved and I was perfectly content to muddle through it there, try and gain my fame there. And then you came and told me to do something crazy and reckless and here we are. It's been five months and we're already on this edge of breaking up."

"No, we're not," Blaine said, trying to stay calm even though he felt like he was shaking. "We're _not_, not if you would stay here and fix this with me, actually fight for us. You're walking away Rachel, you're walking away and into the arms of this-god, this fucking _asshole_ and you're so scared and insecure because everyone else has always walked away from _you _that you don't even see it. I'm not leaving Rachel, I'm trying to make this work. But even I can only do so much." She shook her head, her mouth opening to argue back when her phone rang. It seemed to shake them out of their argument, and she walked over to the table to answer it, her voice slightly shaky as she said 'hello'.

"No, sorry, I'll be right there," she said after a moment, hanging up and glancing at Blaine. "I have to go," she said simply with a tiny shrug.

"Don't," he whispered. "If you walk out of this room, Rachel, right now, you're giving up on us Rachel, you're walking away from us."

"I have to go," she answered, not looking at him at all as she walked out the door, leaving Blaine to figure out exactly what had just happened on his own.

* * *

><p>Blaine called out of work that day, hoping that Rachel would come back and realize exactly what she had said, what she had done. When it turned to be almost 7pm; he knew she wouldn't be back until her shift ended later that night. He knew that by now, she had told Jesse everything that happened, and he began to wonder if she was even going to come back period.<p>

He was sitting on their couch panicking about this all too real prospect when she walked into the apartment, walking straight past him without a word. "Rachel!" he called out, but she continued past him, heading for her bedroom. He quickly followed, pushing the door open when she tried to close it on him. "Rachel, why can't we talk about this?"

"I don't want to talk to you," she told him, her voice shaky. He looked at her and saw tear stains on her cheeks, the fact that she had been crying twisted his stomach around and all he wanted to do was hold her, promise they'd figure out a way out of this mess, let her know that this whole fight was unnecessary. But when he reached out for her, she pushed him away. "I said I don't want to talk," she repeated, moving away even further now.

"Rach-"

"Please get out," her voice was soft but steadier than it had been.

"Why are you letting him do this to us?" he asked again.

"He isn't doing anything to us Blaine," she told him, her eyes hard and distant when she looked up at him. "He hasn't done anything that wouldn't have happened on its own accord."

"Yes, he is! He is making problems where there weren't any, he's creating new problems that never needed to exist!"

"Blaine, please just-just leave me alone for awhile." Her words were a request, though her voice didn't sound it.

"Fine," he responded, "I'll leave you and Jesse to go destroying our relationship in peace." He turned and stormed out of the room, aware his temper was getting the best of him, slamming the door behind him as he went and deciding not to care. If she was going to ruin their relationship, he wouldn't let her do it single handedly.


	5. With A Little Help From My Friends

"You haven't spoken to him in a week?" Jesse asked, his tone incredulous as she sipped her tea. She nodded vaguely, unaware as to why Jesse seemed so shocked-for one, she had told him about her fight with Blaine almost immediately after it happened, and for two she had spent even more time around him in an effort to stay clear of her own house.

"I mean, whenever I come home he storms into his room," she said quietly. She had spent a lot of time the past few days thinking and looking back, and she was starting to worry that maybe he was right-she was finding problems where there were none to find, and Jesse wasn't helping matters. But it was nice having a _friend _who she wasn't sleeping with in the new and completely unfamiliar city, someone who knew it a little better and could help her out. All in all, everything just seemed to be confusing her more.

"That sounds mature," Jesse sneared, and she let out a heavy sigh.

"Look, I have to go to the airport to pick someone up, I'll call you later," she told him, kissing his cheek before heading to the car-Blaine was sitting at home, he hadn't even said goodbye when Rachel left that morning-glad that at least some semblance of normal was going to come back to her life, if only for a few days.

* * *

><p>"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sally yelled, hitting Rachel on the arm.<p>

"Ow!" Rachel cried, glancing at where she was sure a bruise was forming now as best she could as they navigated the traffic through the city.

"Well, honestly. You finally get your act together and then you fuck it all up!" Sally cried out, sighing in disgust. "I'm going to punch Blaine too, don't you worry. Both of you are getting worked up because of some asshat."

"He's not some-Sally, Jesse is my friend. He didn't _do _anything that wouldn't have happened anyways," Rachel tried to explain away as she had in her fight with Blaine, but Sally didn't buy it any more than Blaine had.

"Jesse is ruining your relationship because he wants in your pants Berry," Sally informed her as they pulled up to the apartment. "And you and Blaine were crazy about each other when you left New York, so unless the entire world has changed around, I'm willing to be you're even more so now. So why are you so quick to ruin it?"

* * *

><p>Blaine was nice as ever to Sally, and the three of them went out to dinner. It was slightly awkward as Rachel was still trying to avoid talking to her boyfriend, but Sally told them everything that had happened in the past few months-including a tidbit about how Kurt had dropped by the dorm a week prior.<p>

"Kurt?" Rachel asked in confusion, aware of how badly things had ended the last time she had seen him. Sally nodded, tearing apart her piece of bread.

"He apparently went to Blaine's room to find him-by the way, your old roommate is apparently still creepy as fuck and now forgoing just hitting on girls, or he thought Kurt was a girl, Kurt wasn't entirely positive-and when he was told that he left a few months prior, he said he came running straight to our room. Only to find Berry's side completely empty, and me sitting on my bed. So I explained that you two ran off back in-what-October?"

"Something like that," Blaine muttered, looking at Rachel.

"Yeah, anyways, so then he had this huge freak out about how you two should have at least had the decency to tell him, and I was like, well they've been gone this long and you didn't even know until now so what's the difference? And he didn't seem to like that so much, so then he stalked off." She shrugged as she dug into her pasta, and Rachel caught Blaine's eyes for the first time in what felt like forever. She noticed that the bags under his eyes were more prominent than normal, and she felt almost a kick in the stomach when she realized he must not have been sleeping well. She felt even worse when she realized it was probably because of their fighting.

She knew she had to talk to Blaine, but her pride was still getting in the way. She had to, at the very least, talk to Jesse before she did anything else. Find out if he was really just trying to destroy her relationship.

* * *

><p>"So, why are we meeting this guy?" Sally asked as she sat down, watching people from their table towards the back of the coffee shop a couple days later.<p>

"Because Jesse and I have a routine, we do this every Monday, Wednesday and Friday," Rachel explained.

"But all I've heard is how this guy is ruining your relationship-"

"He's not ruining my relationship," Rachel interjected, but Sally ignored her.

"-and you continue to hang out with him."

"I _told _you," Rachel started, but Jesse showed up-coffee in hand-and slid in next to Rachel before she could finish her argument, giving Sally a charming smile.

"Hi, Jesse St. James," he smiled, holding out a hand to shake.

"Sally," she answered, her eyes narrowed as she took him in. "So, you're the one destroying Rachel and Blaine."

"Sally!" Rachel hissed, but Sally paid her no mind.

"Excuse me?" Jesse asked, eyebrow raised as he took the new girl in. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sally laughed, and Rachel felt her cheeks redden. "You're feeding all these lies to Rachel about how her relationship with Blaine is going to fail anyways, and you're the reason they're having problems in the first place. You're destroying their relationship so you can have Rachel."

Jesse laughed, his voice still airy and bright. "Sally, right? Listen, as much as I care about Rachel-and it would be stupid of me to say otherwise, we have a past and I do care deeply for her-but I want nothing but the best for her. If she was truly happy with Blaine, than I would be completely supportive of that."

"Then stop being a douche and be more fucking supportive," Sally threatened, and Rachel groaned inwardly.

"I'll take that into consideration," Jesse acknowledged with a smirk, casting a glance towards Rachel. "Where did all of this come from anyways?"

"Not from me," she assured him.

"No, this is all what I've picked up from their fights and from what Blaine told me last night," Sally replied loudly, interrupting them once more, almost like she was trying to remind them that she was there. She had done that a lot when they were roommates and her and Blaine were laughing a little too loudly or sitting a little too closely, and the fact that she was doing it now when she was with Jesse unnerved Rachel a little.

"Wait," she asked a moment later, "You talked to Blaine?"

Sally shrugged, but she did look a little guilty. "He asked what you and I were up to today while he was working, and I told him we were getting coffee with Jesse," she told Rachel, completely ignoring Jesse's presence now. "He kind of made this annoyed face that I used to see if you would ever talk about some guy you found attractive or something, and so I asked what exactly was going on and he told me."

"Oh," was all Rachel could bring herself to say.

"Anyways," Jesse said loudly, bringing both girls attentions back to himself. "I know you're busy with your friend this week," he started, apparently going along with her game of pretending they weren't sitting at the same table as the other, "but there's a really good seminar on auditions on Thursday and if you wanted to go, I'm sure I could get you in."

She bit her lip-it did sound awesome, but she was spending time with Sally. "Not this week, but if there's another one coming up, I'll be glad to go," she told him. Sally snorted into her drink and Rachel decided that maybe it was far past time for them to go. "Anyways, we should be heading back soon anyways-we have a big night planned, so I'll see you next week," she assured him, and he nodded, kissing her cheek as they all stood up to say goodbye. She flushed at that, aware that it was something he had never done before, almost uncomfortable with what it could mean. When Sally opened her mouth to question her on it, Rachel shot her a look that quieted her almost immediately.

_Maybe they do have a point_, Rachel realized, _maybe Jesse is just trying to destroy Blaine and I_.

The fact that someone she trusted, someone who was almost a link to her old life and what she had been. She had been clinging to him and listening to him for so many reasons, but if he was really trying to ruin what had been a good relationship, maybe it was time they actually talked about it.

She sighed heavily as they got into the car, making a mental note that she was just going to have to talk to Jesse one on one and get everything out in the open.


	6. Finer Feelings

Blaine was, in a way, grateful for Sally's presence. He knew that part of the reason Rachel was so wound up was that she didn't have anyone besides himself and Jesse. When they had first gotten to New York she didn't have too many others, but there was at least Kurt and Sally and a few people she talked to from classes. In LA, all they seemed to do was work or hang out around their apartment, they hadn't gotten a chance to really settle in and make other friends yet. Besides, Sally was fun-even if she was a little startlingly honest sometimes. She had made him nervous back when he was still dating Kurt, but she was at least thoughtful enough to never mention how painfully obvious Blaine's feelings were for Rachel-at least while he was around.

He hadn't taken time off like Rachel had to hang around with them, but he still spent what time he could with Sally. He knew she was really there for Rachel and he appreciated that she seemed to be talking sense into her. One of the nights he had even heard the two arguing, trying to keep quiet so that Blaine wouldn't overhear, but his bedroom was right next to the kitchen.

"Why would you talk to Jesse before Blaine? All he's going to do is brainwash you again," Sally stated, and he could practically see her eye roll.

"He doesn't _brainwash _me," Rachel retorted, and Blaine had to refrain from snorting so the girls wouldn't know he was eavesdropping-it wasn't his proudest moment after all. "He's a _friend_ whose simply listening to what I have to say and giving advice."

"He's a _dick _who is trying to _sabotage _your relationship with Blaine so _he_ can get in your pants."

"He doesn't, god, I mean it's been forever since we've even dated much less-"

"Wait, when you two dated, _did _you ever?" Rachel was silent, and Blaine felt a sense of dread fall over him. It was one thing to have an exboyfriend crawling all over her, but another entirely to have it be some guy she even slept with. Or worse, might have taken her virginity. _Please just deny it_, he thought quietly, resting his eyes against the wall.

"I mean, it was just a couple of times-one of the times Finn and I broke up," she whispered, and Blaine thought briefly for a moment that he might throw up. "I was upset with Finn for leaving me again, this time his reason even stupider than it had been in the past, and Jesse was home for Christmas break. I just-he was there, waiting with open arms, and it just kind of happened. It wasn't supposed to-I hadn't even let Finn get into my pants yet, and yet he made me feel loved and cared for and until he left to go back to school, he made me happy."

"And then you and Finn got back together," Sally clarified a moment later. Rachel was silent but Blaine assumed she was nodding. He didn't even know how he had missed the Jesse St. James return their senior year-he was sure that was the time she was talking about, he remembered her disappearing for awhile but assumed she was just keeping her head down until school started, and as he spent most of his time at Kurt's around Finn, of course he wouldn't see her that much.

But to know that the guy that was trying to tear her apart was someone she loved, someone she had trusted enough to _sleep _with for the first time? Blaine was in so much more shit than he had previously thought.

* * *

><p>Sally left a few days later, Rachel had brought her to the airport while Blaine was at work, and when he got home she still wasn't there. He sighed, hoping that they would be able to talk that night, but knowing she was probably off with Jesse for the time being.<p>

He wanted nothing more than to forbid her from seeing him, but that wouldn't work out-it would make her turn to him more, cause more fights between the two, more than likely actually break them and they were hanging by a thread as it was. He hated what they had become, they were worse than even the end of Kurt and his relationship. He had spent so much time admiring Rachel, wishing he would be able to have her for his own, and now just one asshole was going to rip them apart.

He had planned on giving up on them. It would have been so much easier to give up on them. But then she had caught his eye, and even though they were fighting, even though everything was falling to pieces, he realized he couldn't just walk away from her. He loved her, and he wasn't going to lose her. He just had to figure out a way to get Jesse out of the picture without hurting Rachel even more in the process.

School was starting again the next day, and he had work he could do for it, but Blaine was only taking two classes at the community college-he was still waiting to hear back from UCLA about transferring in the Fall and becoming a full time student again-and was too distracted to actually work on it regardless. He instead sat on the couch, watching some reruns of _Lost _that were playing on the TV, hoping Rachel would be back soon. He still didn't know _what _he was going to tell her, he just knew that he had to say something and hope it wouldn't turn into a giant fight.

He was falling asleep when he heard their door slam open, sitting up quickly enough as she ran into the living room, crying and distraught as she fell on his lap and repeated the words "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Blaine I've been so stupid," over and over again. He hushed her, trying to get her to breathe and look at him, her eyes hidden in her hands.

"Rachel, relax, what happened? What's wrong?" he prodded, a sense of dread even greater than the other night washing over him while she hiccupped, clearly trying to calm down. He rubbed her back and waited for her to breathe enough to talk, her tears quieting down after a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry," she kept saying when she had enough air to talk, and he just nodded, though he didn't know what exactly she was sorry for.

"Just, tell me what's wrong," he asked again, hoping she was calm enough to actually answer. She sniffled, but for the most part the tears seemed to have subsided for the moment so she could talk.

"You were right, you and Sally were both right and I didn't want to see it and I blamed everything on you and I shouldn't have because I was wrong, and I'm so sorry and-"

"Rachel, I get that you're sorry but _what _made you see all this?" he asked, not feeling pleased at all. Something must have happened for her to finally see what they had been saying all along, and judging by the state of her hair-which he now had time to notice was mussed in a way that was far too familiar-and her hysterical tears-which were still trailing down her cheeks-and he was almost positive he didn't want to know what it was. She mumbled something, completely incoherently, her eyes wide and scared with Blaine could only guess was fear that he was going to leave her if she answered him clearly as she looked up at him, and he sighed. "Rachel, I need you to speak to me so we can figure this out."

"He kissed me," she finally said, and while her tone was shocked and scared and her voice quiet, he still had to fight the urge to scream. He noticed his grip on her waist had tightened where he was holding her close from when she was spiraling out of control, and quickly took his hands off her, moving her off his lap so he could pace the living room.

"He kissed you," he repeated, and _damn it_ all he wanted was to find this asshole and punch him in the face, his greater height be damned. He seethed for a few minutes, noting that Rachel seemed to have calmed down a great deal now that it was out in the open, that she was watching as he stormed up and down the length of their living room.

"Blaine-"

"You're going to have to give me a minute here Rachel," Blaine interrupted before she had the chance to talk more, "because if you don't I'm going to snap and this entire thing will be even worse than it currently is."

"Are we going to be able to fix this?" she asked quietly, and he would have sworn she hadn't even said it if he hadn't been looking at her when it happened.

"I hope so," was all he could reply, and when he saw her face fall even more he took one last deep breath before bringing over a chair and sitting in front of her, keeping his hands on his knees as he looked her in the eye. "Tell me exactly what happened."


	7. No More Lonely Nights

Rachel hesitated before she began-she knew that in order to fix their relationship, she was going to have to be completely honest. She also knew Blaine was going to be extremely pissed off by the time she was finished with her story, and that Jesse would be fortunate if Blaine didn't come after him.

"Rachel, you need to use words now," Blaine prompted her, and she nodded, taking a deep breath before the words started spilling out.

"Well, I guess it started the other day-well, it probably started when you all said it did, but I didn't see it because I trusted him, and oh god Blaine I was so stupid, he just reminded me of home and of the girl I used to be, it was like I could be the 17 year old with big dreams of New York and Broadway with him and all I ever wanted was for him to be my friend, I swear Blaine I never even thought about Jesse as anything more-"

"You need to breathe or you're going to pass out," he mumbled, resting his head in his hands as he listened.

She nodded, realizing he was right as she took a pause. "The other day when Sally and I went to coffee with him, she basically verbally assaulted him," Rachel grimaced, though she noticed a slight grin on Blaine's face. "She asked him why he was trying to break us up, and he denied it and I was going to let it go, continuing to ignore everything you guys said but I wanted to make up with you because I was feeling horrible about our fighting, and then when we were saying goodbye to him, he kissed me on the cheek." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, and she wondered how she was going to be able to tell him what happened in the past couple hours if she could barely rush out what had happened a few days prior.

"Normally a friendly thing to do, but still not happy about it, go on," Blaine said, peeking at Rachel through his fingers. She looked down at her own hands, twiddling her thumbs round and round as she grew more anxious.

"Well, I went to talk to him today after I left Sally-she says bye and she loves you by the way, you should text her later-because I wanted to figure out what was going on so that when I came to you, we could figure this out and we could fix us. And he told me to just come over to his apartment-"

"His apartment?" Blaine asked apprehensively, and Rachel started gnawing on her lip as she nodded. "Have you been to his apartment before?" She nodded again, and he sighed loudly, his hands dropping to his knees. She could see his knuckles turning white as he tried to calm himself down, and she waited for him to give her to go ahead, waited for him to tell her he was calm enough to hear more. It took a minute or so, but he nodded, looking at her once more as she curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her legs as she shakily began the next part of her recount.

"Well, I went over there and expected him to just be doing homework or practicing his vocals for the musical he's in in a couple months or something, but he was just waiting there for me and it was almost like he had set it up to be romantic, and I knew it was bad and that I should leave-I should have just left, god I'm so stupid," she whispered, the tears starting to gather in her eyes again, the overwhelming feeling of panic and stupidity and desperation taking over for a second. Blaine hesitantly reached out a hand, placing it gently on her hair and nodding, letting her know it was okay, that she should go on, and she calmed down enough to speak enough again. "I just wanted to know what was going on, I wanted to hear it for myself that this is what Jesse was trying to do all along. So I was like 'Jesse, what's going on?' and he was like 'We need to talk Rachel,' and I was like 'Yes, we do, I need to know exactly what your intentions are in this friendship,' and then-oh god, Blaine, he kissed me and I panicked and I tried to push him away because I don't _want _to kiss Jesse, I don't want to kiss anyone but you, but he held the back of my head so I didn't really have a choice, and he's so much stronger than me, and-" she was in hysterics again, and he moved over to the couch, hugging her tightly and whispering that it was okay, he wasn't mad at her, it was all going to be fine. It took another couple minutes for her to calm down but finally she did, Blaine's arms still wrapped around her. "I'm so sorry Blaine, I swear I never meant for this to happen, how could I have let this happen to us?"

He hushed her, kissing the side of her head. "We'll get through it," was all he said, and she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat and letting it lull her into a sense of calm. "For what it's worth," he said after a few minutes, her eyes starting to close as she felt the beginnings of what promised to be a more relaxing sleep than she had had in a couple weeks, "I don't blame you. I mean, I was mad that you wouldn't listen and you couldn't see what he was doing, but I know why you weren't seeing it." She didn't say anything, choosing to just let him say what he had to. "I mean, as big a step it was to move to Los Angeles with me, I know that you still get homesick. You'd get homesick in New York sometimes. You don't admit it, because you don't like to acknowledge that you like Ohio, but I know you do."

"He was like a link to all that," she whispered, and she could feel him nodding his head.

"Exactly. And you're-well, as hard headed and independent as you like to show the world you are, you're still insecure, especially for someone who has no reason to be." She nodded, knowing what he said was true. "Just promise me that you're not going to ever see him again."

She sat up now, looking him straight in the eye. "I promise," she said solemnly, and for the first time in what felt like decades his trademark grin broke on his face. "Are we good?" she asked quietly.

"I think as long as we can put this whole Jesse thing behind us, we're good," he nodded.

"Thank god," she exhaled, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her. "I couldn't bear the thought that we might have broken up, I don't know what I'd do," she admitted, blushing slightly at her words and the weight they carried.

"I'm not going anywhere Berry," he reassured her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "I love you too much to let you out of my grasp." All of a sudden her heart seemed to flutter, all their problems seemed to evaporate out of thin air at his words, she was sure she had never felt this strongly about anyone else before.

"I love you," she whispered, eyes wide and focused on his as she placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Besides, there's always one good thing about fights," Blaine grinned, his eyes practically giving off a devious spark she had so missed seeing.

"And what's that?" Rachel asked, adjusting so she was now straddling him on the couch, his hands moving down to grasp her hips automatically.

His smile grew even larger, an eyebrow raised. "Make up sex," he answered as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, and before she could let out even the slightest chuckle in response, his mouth enveloped hers.

She wasn't about to question his theory.


End file.
